School Potentially Lying About Administering Medicine

[Puttingchildrenfirst]

Hello all, looking for some advice on what to do.

My DD is 7 and currently has a serious health condition, she's been poorly for a couple of years and probably will be for many more. She requires a lot of medical care/hospital stays/specialist nursing teams etc.

To make a long story short, she is meant to take an oral medicine (tablet) in the middle of the day and this is meant to be given in school.

Since moving to her new class in September she tells me frequently that she was not given her medicine, a few times its been not at all but the majority of the time she says she is given it at home time. This happens at least once a week if not more.

She will say that she knows it was hometime because they were all lined up at the door or she was holding her bag to go or she'd just been given her reading book etc.

She's very clued up on the schedule of everything, knows all about which IV is which (she has a line in) and what tablet is what etc. A few times she's said she's reminded someone at lunch and they've said they'll do it in a minute but apparently haven't.

Now obviously I have spoken to the school multiple times, every time they have assured me that she has been administered it at the correct time and that she must be getting mixed up. I've offered to work on them with solutions (such as a digital watch with an alarm on it for her) but theyve said there's no need because she has it everyday at the right time without fail.

She's just told me again that she was given it just as she was going out the door to home as she went to take the evening dose.

What on earth do I do? Its giving me horrible anxiety thinking about it. One part of me tells me to never let her step foot in there again and the other part says shes 7 so maybe she is mixed up.

We did look a while back at alternative schools but she got so upset at the thought of leaving her friends.

That's awful.

I'd start by emailing the headteacher and cc'ing the safeguarding lead. Explain what your daughter has told you and the possible consequences for her health. Ask for a face to face meeting with the head, the safeguarding lead, and whichever teacher is supposed to be giving your daughter the medicine. In the meantime I would ask that the teacher giving the medication completes a form each time medication is given and that the form states the time and is signed by the teacher.

Does the prescription state what time the medication should be given?

The last time I had a meeting with family liaison and the deputy head and they just said again that they can absolutely assure me that it's being given at lunch.

It does because its meant to be with food and spaced with a certain number of hours between doses. So on the days she has it late I keep her up to have it later in the evening.

There should be a policy for children with medical needs with clear procedures in place.
As PP says giving regular medication should be clearly recorded on a chart and initialled or signed on a daily basis.

Could you contact your Paediatrician for a letter stating the importance of administering the medication at the correct time. ( shouldn’t have to!) The school nurse might be able to help.
Speak to the Head who has ultimate responsibility.

I'd want to see a signed document every day showing the time of administration. See if they actually want to put heir name to a fake time. Nursery always did this for my daughter.

Edited to add, nursery did it as good practice, not because they were fibbing. School I trust less and they don't like showing us the document, but my daughter is now 10 and will head to the office after lunch if they forget.

I did think about getting them to write down when they give it but then I think if they're willing to potentially lie to my face and say they've given it then what's to stop them writing the wrong time down.

Her specialist nursing team have spoken to them and said how important it is.

I thought maybe as well if it had to be signed by 2 people, because then that's 2 people who are putting pen to paper on a lie.

They just wont admit to it happening even 1 time so we can start to look at solutions to stop it happening again. They brush off my concerns each time by telling me its not the truth.

can you ask them to text you when they've given it?

Could you rock up at lunchtime occasionally to check? But asking for two signatures sounds reasonable.

Does she have an individual health care plan?
I would ask to see the schools administration of medicine policy. It should state that when medicines are administered, a proper record is kept with time, dose and signature of person giving the medicine and a witness, this should be standard procedure in schools.

At our school meds were always administered by reception staff so children had to go there are lunchtime accompanied by a member of staff. That should make it more obvious as to time and bring other staff into the equation. Presumably there's afternoon registration, your DD would know if she'd had her meds before that.
I'd believe my DS over what school said, any day of the week.

Your daughter is telling the truth.

Tell them to take a photo of her with a digital watch or in front of a clock.

You're being 1000% calmer than I would be about this, I would have gone absolutely batshit - and I've been a teacher...

Can you call them every lunch time and ask if it has been given?
Or ask them to call you once it has been done?

This sounds very sensible. The meds are kept locked away in reception ready for your DD to be accompanied to take them.

Yes, all meds. Reception staff do all first aid and have a fridge for meds that need to be kept cold too.

I agree with this solution.it seems unlikely that your dd is lying, at best she might be remembering the days wrong eg thinking they gave it to her at the wrong time today when it actually happened yesterday.

Also I would be very clear that they risk causing an overdose when she gets home and takes the next dose, if they aren’t following the schedule.

The medication should have an audit trail in the form of a dispensing record sheet preferably with 2 signatures, medication name, dosage and time/ date given as a minimum.

DD is in nursery and they have this in place which we then have to countersign & date to show we’ve seen the sheet.

I would request that this is in place for your daughter OP.

Ask your DD to ask the time when she next given the medication. And repeat back, it’s three o clock and I’m going home now. They might take note then and be more diligent.

I'd second asking them to text when it's administered. If they refuse, digital watch on your daughter and get her to record the time it is given each day.

Is there an allocated adult to administer?

How it works in my child's school and I know this because I was a second signature.

There should be a medicines policy on the school's website. All medicines are locked away in the school office which also has a medicines fridge only to be used for medicines. Food is kept in the staff room fridge.

There is a specific medicine administration form that has to be filled in, you can't just hand over a bottle of medicine and verbally tell the office, There is a specific calendar with alerts on set up by the office when the medicine is brought in and all the forms filled out. The office then calls down to the classroom on the phone to request the child to be brought up to the office. Half the time the TA/LSA will already be on their way up if it is daily. If a condition is serious they have a 1 to 1 TA who manages it, ie insulin pump on a young child.

The medicines are stored in individual clip lock containers for each child with full details about the child in the container. Their photo is on the front for a visual safeguard too. Inside the container is the medicine and a sheet to fill in for when the medicine is given. The date and time is written down as the child is given their medicine as well as the dose. 2 people have to sign to say this has been done and as someone taking the child to the office I have been the second signature on that form.

That way there is a clear record for the parent to see if required.

What is your school's policy? I would go in this morning early and ask to see the form they are filling in.

Thank you all for your replies, her school uses a digital system because I get alerts that say "your child was administered x medication" with a time but not the administering person. But I always get them at the end of the day once children are home, even if she says she was given it at lunch.

School have said that staff have until the end of the day to load up that they've done it and they do it after the kids go home. However its worth noting I don't get one everyday, but they'll always say it was given and they forgot to log it.

I mentioned it at drop off to her teacher and was told (again) that of course she had it at lunch.

I've decided to keep a log for the next couple of weeks with everytime she says it and the supporting evidence eg "I had it after forest school". Then I can call for a meeting with senior leadership and I have more concrete evidence than just "she keeps saying".

Our school has a similar system to Bobinaboat's.

Your DD's school should be keeping an immediate record of when medication is administered. If they know that staff are unable to use the digital system until several hours later, they should be keeping a paper record which could be uploaded later.

If a child is taken ill suddenly and needs medical treatment, the school staff should be able to instantly check that record and pass that information on. It could be relevant to the child's care if their illness is either caused by the medication or by a lack thereof.

Or it might be that you have a family emergency or an appointment that means that you need to collect your DD from school early in the afternoon. Having that record means that you will know whether or not you now need to give her the medication yourself.

Even if the staff are telling the truth about the timings, their system has major flaws if they don't have a second adult as a witness and/or they aren't recording the information somewhere straightaway.

I think what needs to happen at the school is for a single person to be responsible (with back up if they are off).

So maybe it is the admin assistant in the school office, DD goes there at Midday with the name of the person and doesn't leave until she has had her medication.

If they cannot manage that then your DD needs to have the medication on her (I know schools don't like this but tough).

The school have a 'duty of care' and they are failing in that at the moment.

The system they have in place is not safe. Unless medicine is recorded immediately as it is given there is a danger of a double dose, especially if a child is not able to alert anyone. This is pretty serious and I’m sure Ofsted would be interested! I’m an ex teacher btw

Not ideal as a solution but could you put it in her lunchbox?
Or could dd go to the office or wherever at the start of lunch? I remember doing that a millionty years ago when I was at school.

Ultimately though if they have consistently lied then I wouldn't be able to trust them and would look at moving my child.

Did you make any progress OP?